


thunderstorms.

by feyre_darling



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Harry Potter - Freeform, Post Sirius Death, Post-Battle of Hogwarts, Post-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Post-Relationship, Pre-Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Pre-Relationship, Thunderstorms, and also the literal best parent ever, ginny weasley - Freeform, harry and ginny, harry is a sad guy, i love them to pieces okay, time jumps
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-06
Updated: 2019-09-06
Packaged: 2020-10-11 03:58:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20539745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feyre_darling/pseuds/feyre_darling
Summary: harry is terrified of thunder, and thinks he's an idiot for being scared of something so harmless. ginny helps him realise how wrong he is.(a look at Harry's life over the years, through Ginny's eyes.)





	thunderstorms.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope u enjoy! this one is just dedicated to me because I love myself and also harry and ginny too I love them with my whole ass heart okay <3
> 
> also for some reason I always imagined harry being shit scared about thunderstorms lol sorry harry I love u really and I do apologise for putting u through all dis crap.
> 
> all character rights go to JK Rowling xx

Ginny tossed and turned restlessly in her bed as the clock struck twelve in the hallway of the Burrow. The rain thundered on the windows, banging against the glass and rattling the panes as it had been doing for the past hour. Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and illuminated her room in a flare of white, before disappearing back into the clouds, accompanied by a loud, rumbling sound that seemed to shake the very foundations of the house. Ginny groaned aloud, kicking off her covers in frustration and letting her head fall heavily back onto her pillow. She was tired-really tired, actually- and the nights thunder was not doing her any favours. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she began to tiptoe downstairs, trying desperately to avoid the floorboards she knew would creak and groan and make her mother come running down the hallway to see what was going on. She didn’t want her to worry, especially after what happened last school year; she just wanted to be left alone, to get up in the middle of the night without anyone worrying about her. And, she was hungry.  
Ginny had just finished the perilous journey to the ground floor and was about to head into the kitchen when she caught a glimpse of a faint, blue light coming from the living room. Tiptoeing quietly into the doorway, she peered into the room. Harry sat on the floor with his head against the sofa, the glow of his wand the only light. His eyes were shut tight, and from what she could tell, he hadn’t realised she was there. Thunder crashed violently outside, and she noticed Harry flinch as if he’d been hit by something, drawing his knees up to his chest and letting his head fall onto them.  
“Harry?” Ginny whispered, quiet enough so she wouldn’t startle him. He lifted up his head and frowned.  
“What are you doing down here?” he asked her sharply. Ginny stared for a moment, before realising he probably didn’t intend for it to come out that way. She had noticed over the years she’d known him that Harry tended to become angry and defensive when something was wrong; the others would always leave him alone, afraid they would cause an outburst of some sort. They had been doing it all summer, too, ever since Sirius died, and Ginny couldn’t help but be angry at all of them. She thought it might help him to talk about things, but had yet to approach him on the matter.  
Harry seemed to realise his mistake, and his features softened. “Sorry.” He said, cheeks colouring a little. “You want to sit?” He patted the floor and Ginny slid down next to him.  
“You can’t sleep either?” She asked. Harry shifted uncomfortably.  
“Not really. I-“ he stopped mid-sentence, and Ginny knew he regretted having opened his mouth. It was hard, getting Harry to talk about his feelings; she knew he would rather talk about anything else. But she also knew that this was probably the only time they would ever been alone together, and no one else would even try to get him to talk. Harry would close himself off completely if she didn’t encourage him now.  
“You don’t have to tell me, Harry.” She said, turning to face him. “But it might make you feel better if you do.”  
Harry turned, too, so that they were facing each other. Ginny watched as a million emotions seemed to cross his features; he let out a deep sigh, almost like a groan. “You’ll think I’m stupid.”  
“I won’t!” Ginny said, almost immediately. “I promise I won’t.” Harry still didn’t look convinced. He shook his head and sighed again. “Its fine.”  
Another crack of thunder rumbled through the air, breaking the silence between them, and Harry flinched again, more visibly this time. Ginny had no idea where she got the courage from, but she reached over and placed her hands gently on his shoulders. Harry’s eyes widened in shock, but he said nothing.  
“It’s not fine, Harry. I can tell. And, it’s not stupid. Whatever it is, I won’t think you’re stupid. I won’t.”  
Holding his gaze firmly, she let go of his shoulders. Harry, to her surprise, didn’t look away like he had done before. He leant his head back against the sofa again. “I hate thunderstorms.” He got out, looking at her immediately with a terrified expression, like he thought she might really call him stupid. “I- they just really scare me. I hate them.”  
“You didn’t have to be embarrassed about that, you know.” Ginny smiled at him sadly. “It’s perfectly normal. Loads of people are scared of them.”  
“Yeah, but, I’m me, Ginny. Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, scared of thunderstorms? It’s stupid.”  
“It’s not stupid, Harry.” She said, more forcefully this time. He looked at her, dragging his eyes up from where they had been fixated on the floor, and suddenly Ginny noticed the tears threatening to spill from them; Harry sniffed and turned his head away for a split second, wiping them away furiously with the back of his hand.  
“I’m sorry, Gin.” He said quietly; but just as she started about to tell him to stop apologising, he cut in.  
“No, I mean, I’m sorry about… Look, I’ve had a lot of time to think about this. This summer, I mean. I just- I wanted to say I’m sorry for not really talking to you about what happened with Vold- I mean, You Know Who.”  
For a minute, Ginny was silent. “Where did that come from?” she asked after a while, her voice almost a whisper; she couldn’t really bring herself to speak loudly at all.  
“I don’t know. I’m sorry though, I really am. I know I can be hard to be around sometimes, too.”  
“Don’t do that.” Ginny met his eyes with a hard, blazing look, and for the second time that night, he didn’t look away; he held her gaze as fiercely as she held his.  
“Don’t do what?”  
Instead of answering, Ginny shifted forward so they were closer together, knees bumping together as they sat crossed legged on the living room floor.  
“It’s okay, you know. The thing you said about Ridd- you know who I mean. You’ve had a lot going on these past few years. Don’t know if you remember.” Harry smiled, a faint, ghost of a smile that played on his lips for half a second before disappearing again.  
“Yeah, I remember. But that’s not an excuse for barely talking to you until this summer. I should’ve, I don’t know, invited you places with Ron and Hermione or something.”  
Ginny snorted. “Yeah, like Ron would’ve let little sister tag along.”  
“Yeah, but Ron’s a piece of-“ Harry stopped himself mid-sentence, and Ginny had to cover her mouth to stop herself from giggling; he raised her eyebrows at her, smiling a little himself.  
“What I mean is, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. It would’ve been fun with you.” Harry dropped Ginny’s gaze, and began fiddling nervously with the worn-out carpet, as if it was the most interesting thing in the room. He took a deep breath, and Ginny almost stopped breathing herself; she braced herself anxiously for whatever he was about to confess.  
“Ever since Sirius…ever since he died, it’s gotten worse. You know, the visions. All the nightmares. My scar hurts…all the time. But it’s stupid, because I don’t even care about any of that. I just-“ Harry looked up at Ginny again and she felt her heart breaking at his expression. Only now did she see how awfully tired and worn out he looked, the dark bags under his eyes; it made her want to cry.  
“I don’t care, because it’s not about me, is it? Everything that’s happened, everything that’s happening, it’s happening to everyone else. Everyone I care about is dying, Ginny, and I don’t want you guys to be next. And that’s why I thought about you, and the Chamber. I should’ve been there for you, and even if it wasn’t my fault you were there in the first place, I should’ve made sure that you were okay. Done something, I don’t know. But I’m sick of it, and I just really want to go to sleep, and this stupid bloody thunder is freaking me out and I hate it.”  
A few seconds passed as Harry leant back against the sofa again, breathing heavily. And then, without thinking, Ginny crawled across the floor and wrapped her arms around him wordlessly. She felt him stiffen at first, but after a moment he relaxed, putting his arms around her and pulling her close.  
Ginny couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. Harry had never spoken to her like that, never told her anything close to how he was really feeling. But that was the truth, and he was trusting her with it, and she had no idea what to do except hold onto him, feeling his heart pounding in his chest and his breath hot against her ear.  
A crack of thunder rumbled loudly outside; Ginny had forgotten it was even raining, and as she slowly came back to her senses, she could hear it lashing down outside the door, still as heavy as it had been before. Still holding onto her, Harry seemed to remember too, and she felt his whole body go still.  
“Harry.” She whispered. “I have an idea.”  
As Harry untangled himself from her and stood up of the floor, Ginny stood up with him and grabbed his arm lightly. “Come with me.”  
“Where are we going?” He asked softly, an edge of uncertainty in his voice. But he didn’t object when she pulled hm towards the front door and pulled it open.  
The rain poured down violently, thunder and lightning in sync with each other in a horrible cacophony of noise; it was liked they were standing right in the middle of it. Ginny took Harry’s hand. He was shivering, as was she, but Ginny knew it wasn’t just because of the cold.  
“Are you suggesting we go outside, in…” Harry pointed out of the doorway, “That?”  
“Do you think I’m crazy?”  
“I’m starting to!”  
Ginny rolled her eyes. “Just look. I just wanted to show you. That it’s not going to hurt you.”  
“I know it’s not going to hurt me. That’s why it’s stupid that I’m scared of it.”  
“No, what I mean is- I think, if you just look at it, if you’re standing right near it, maybe it won’t feel so bad. Maybe it will show you that you can face it. Even if it scares you, even if you’re still scared of it forever, you’ll know that you can stand and watch it and not look away.”  
Harry paused for a moment. Ginny studied his face carefully, still holding his hand, until he slowly dragged his gaze from her face, to the thunderstorm outside. And there they both stood in complete silence, until the clock struck one. The thunder roared and crashed in front of their eyes; but there they stood.  
It was the first time Ginny had seen him smile, properly smile, in a long time. And some part of her was happy, at the possibility that she had been the cause.

Two years later, Ginny found herself sitting against a half-broken, crumbling archway in the courtyard of her school- well, what had once been her school. The corridors were covered with the dust from of shattered stone statues and pieces of wall that had collapsed onto the walkway; Ginny couldn’t bring herself to look at it anymore, and so had moved outside. Most of her family had been asleep in the common room for hours already, but her mind was too restless to even try. It was nearly midnight; she had been sitting there for almost an hour, looking out into the thunderstorm that was rumbling loudly overhead, the rain pouring down and lightning flashing above her.  
Harry lay with the back of his head against her chest, legs out in front of him. A crack of thunder shot through the sky, and he sighed heavily. Ginny wrapped her arms around him a little tighter, and he gripped her hand in his dirty, bloodied one, intertwining their fingers together.  
“You okay?” she whispered. Harry was silent for a moment.  
“No. Not really. You?”  
“No.” She replied. They had given up crying a while ago; Ginny had done her fair share of crying in the past few hours, but not nearly as much as Harry. She doubted he had any left in his system- he had only just got his voice back after making it completely hoarse.  
“It’s not your fault, you know.” She said.  
“Yeah, I know.” His voice was uncertain, and Ginny knew he was lying. Lifting up her free hand, she began running it through his messy, dishevelled hair.  
“Harry. It’s not your fault.”  
He didn’t answer, but brought her hand up to his lips and pressed a kiss to it. The thunder was getting louder and louder every second, the rain beating down onto the courtyard floor and washing away any remnants of the battle in its stream. She doubted there would be any debris left outside once the storm was over- it would probably wash over the side of the bridge and down into the pit below.  
“I can’t believe its over.” Harry said quietly. “I keep thinking it’s all a dream.”  
“I can promise you, its real.” Ginny moved herself from underneath him and climbed onto his lap, hooking her arms around his neck and pushing him back so he was leaning against the pillar.  
Harry’s face was littered with bruises and cuts, most of them dried over by now; she had guessed, by the way Harry’s eyes were scanning over her, she probably looked the same. As gently as she could, Ginny placed her hands on either side of his face and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. When she pulled away slowly, he caught her hand and held it against his cheek, closing his eyes.  
Another crack of the thunder; but this time, Harry didn’t flinch at all.  
“I’m here. Its real.” Ginny whispered, their foreheads pressed together. “I’ve got you.”  
Harry’s mouth curved up into a half-smile. “I’ve got you, too.”  
“I know you do.”  
As the rain slowly subsided, the thunder a quiet rumble in the sky, Ginny took Harry’s hand, and together they stumbled into the common room and collapsed onto the sofa in front of the fire. Ginny almost couldn’t keep her eyes open; she was exhausted, and terrified, and really, really sad. But she lay down and wrapped her arms around Harry, entwining their legs together and burying her face in his hair.  
She took a deep breath, and felt herself being dragged into a deep sleep, the thunder outside almost a distant memory.

Ginny sighed and rested her head on Harry’s shoulder as she watched the rain pour down from the porch they were sitting on. It was dark and gloomy outside; she guessed it was probably past midnight already. Thunder clapped in the distance, and Harry pulled her close, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, fingers tracing patterns idly on her forearm. Ginny breathed in deeply.  
“Do you remember that summer, after your fifth year? When I came to talk to you, and there was that huge thunderstorm?”  
Harry chuckled. “Of course I do. Why, is this bringing back memories or something?”  
“Yeah, I guess so.” Ginny nestled herself further into his arms, pulling the blanket that was draped across her shoulders around them properly. “It just seems like a long time ago.”  
Harry moved his hand and slowly began tracing circles on her stomach. The low murmur of the thunder had swelled to almost a roar, but somehow it was comforting.  
“You would have hated this. Back when you were younger.” She said, looking up at Harry’s face. She watched carefully as the corners of his mouth curved upwards into a smile.  
“ Yeah, I would have. But you made it easier, you know. You still make it easier.”  
“Damn right I do.” Harry laughed at her reply. Ginny snickered too, turning her head back to the doorway; it was only then that she felt a sharp kick in the pit of her stomach. Again, this time a little harder, and she couldn’t help but wince slightly. Harry’s smile faded and his face fell, and suddenly he was scanning Ginny’s face, eyes running up and down her whole body. She wanted to laugh at his immediate change of expression, but the uncomfortable feeling hadn’t gone away, and she was having trouble focusing on anything else. Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Ginny cut in.  
“Hey, its fine. She’s just kicking.” Ginny grabbed Harry’s hand and pressed it against her stomach for a moment. Harry’s features softened considerably, tears filling his eyes, and this time Ginny did laugh, the pain in her stomach finally subsiding. Harry let out a sharp exhale.  
“After two kids, you’d think I was used to this.”  
“Tell me about it.” She said, and watched Harry’s face again as he struggled to compose himself, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. There was some part of her that had wondered, when she had found out she was pregnant for the third time, if it would be any different than before. With James, they had both been emotional wrecks throughout the whole nine months of her pregnancy; Al, not as much, but Harry had cried every time he had felt him kick. Without much deliberation, Ginny decided that this time was definitely the same.  
“I never thought I’d get here, you know. I mean, imagine if we went back in time and told my younger self that he had three kids with you before he was twenty-seven? I’m not sure how he would take it, to be honest.”  
Ginny laughed loudly. “Merlin, I’d like to see that. I wouldn’t be too good either. I’d probably faint.”  
“Oh, yeah, you definitely would.” Harry said, earning a punch on his arm. “Come on, lets go inside. Maybe she’s got all the kicking out of her system and you can actually get to sleep this time.”  
“Hmm. Sorry I woke you up though.”  
“You don’t need to apologise, Gin. Besides, I couldn’t really sleep either.”  
Ginny stood up slowly and took Harry’s hand, and soon they were back in their room, the thunder only slightly quieter than before. As she climbed into bed, she heard a small wail come from the bedroom opposite. Harry met her eyes, and she knew his look to mean ‘I’ll go.’  
A few minutes later, Harry returned to the bedroom carrying a crying Albus in his arms. Al was almost two, and although he was smart for his age, his speech mainly consisted of strange combinations of words muddled together. Right now, he couldn’t seem to say anything, and continued to blubber and sob as Harry sat down on the edge of the bed.  
“Hey, Al, what’s wrong? What is it, baby?” Ginny crawled across the bed, and Albus reached out a hand to her. She took it, and he grasped her fingers tightly like he used to do when he was a baby.  
“Maybe it’s the thunder.” Harry suggested, running his hands through his sons hair in an effort to calm him down. “You scared of the thunder, Al? Is that it?”  
Harry pointed to the window, and Albus seemed to understand, burying his head into Harry’s chest and nodding it furiously. Ginny let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.  
“Just like your daddy, then, huh?” She said, moving back into bed. Harry climbed into his side, and Albus snuggled up to him, sucking his thumb.  
“You know, Al,” Harry said quietly, “I used to be scared of thunder too. I couldn’t sleep at all. I used to wake up in the night and be really, really scared, like you.” Ginny closed her eyes, and Harry reached out a hand and began to run his fingers through her hair, the other arm wrapped firmly around Albus. She knew he probably had no idea what Harry was saying, but he had stopped crying, and his eyelids were drooping slightly, so she knew it must be doing something.  
“Then one night, your mum came into the room. She couldn’t sleep either, but only because of the noise. She wasn’t scared of it at all. But she said it was okay to be scared, and she made me feel like I wasn’t alone anymore. She taught me to stand up to it, Al.”  
Ginny could feel herself falling asleep, vaguely hearing Harry’s gentle, quiet voice in the background.  
“It’s okay to be scared. Just because you’re scared doesn’t mean you’re not being brave. But I’ve got you, okay? And I’m never going to let anything hurt you, Al, I promise.”  
Harry’s side of the bed suddenly became lighter. Ginny heard the light tread of footsteps across the floor, and the slight creaking of the door to the boys’ room. A moment later, he climbed back in next to her.  
“He’s asleep.” Harry murmured. Ginny brought his arm around her torso and rested his hand gently on her swollen stomach.  
“Love you.” She whispered.  
“Love you too, Gin.”  
And as the thunder rumbled above them, the rain beating on the windows like a drum, Ginny smiled to herself. Because, after everything, it had all worked out okay.  
Just like she knew it would.

**Author's Note:**

> yay! you made it!
> 
> I always like to imagine harry and ginny as adorable parents and especially pre cursed child when their kids are tiny babies lol  
I also think harry would most definitely pee himself if he saw his future self with kids and ginny as his wife ahaha.
> 
> thank you for reading, comments and kudos appreciated, tell me if u have any requests for a story! x


End file.
